Volvo 240 Odometer Repair

Return to Main Page UPDATED: September 15, 2009

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This Page is in TWO Sections

Section 1: 1981-85 240s
Section 2: 1986-93 240s

Broken odometers in Volvo 240s are pretty darn common. Luckily, for most of us, there are now easy fixes for little nuisances like this. And there are even a few good webpages covering such repairs.
So... why did I go to all trouble of writing this page then? A couple reasons... When I experienced a problem with the odometer in my '84 242 Turbo, I found it to be COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from any repair I've seen before (resulting in no new part needed).
Then I started getting emails from people who found my repair page, often after they bought and tried to install a new gear from an on-line seller. A LOT of people were getting badly confused by the two very different installation methods between cable-driven and electronic speedometers and the lack of guidance they were finding on-line. Lots of 240 owners haven't a clue if their speedometer is cable-driven or electronic. And they were frustrated by less than accurate advice they were getting from people who sold them odometer gears... probably because they didn't know much about Volvos. After all, some places sell gears for lots of different cars.
So I put together some very detailed instructions below on BOTH types of installations for 240s.
If you find any errors here or know a better way than I have illustrated below, please email me.
Thank you, Dave

EMAIL ME

When the cable-driven (mechanical) odometer in my '84 240 Turbo began acting up, I knew it would be time for some minor surgery into the dash. The below instructions will explain in detail what I found. Some of it is pretty much the same information found in Dave Shannon's page, however, the specific failure I found in my odometer was very different. It also resulted in no new part being needed. And I have since discovered the problem I found is a pretty common failure in '81-'85 240 odometers. So I decided to illustrate the repair I did here for those of you who want to fix your odometers. Please keep this in mind.... I know how intimidating this kind of stuff seems. I put it off for some time because I felt it might be a real pain. But I found it was very easy to accomplish.

Here are some other resources for Volvo 240 odometer repairs.

Dave's Shannon's Odometer Repair Page: http://www.homestead.com/volvo2/Odometer.html. Dave's instructional page on repairing a cracked plastic gear in an '81-'85 240 cable-driven (mechanical) odometers has been a great resource for many years and was the inspiration for me learning how to replace these gears.
iPd: www.ipdusa.com. iPd offers a replacement plastic odometer gear that commonly breaks in the 1986 to 1993 electronic 240 speedometer/odometer. They also offer an instructional DVD for the repair. Unfortunately, it appears they don't offer anything for the 1985 and older cable-driven (mechanical) speedometers.
Volvo 240 Odometer Repair: http://www.hyperocity.com/volvo240/volvoodometer.htm. A pretty good site with instructions for '86-'93 electronic odometer repairs. They also offer resources for purchasing new gears for '81-'85 240 cable-driven (mechanical) speedometers.
Odometergears.com: This site is a manufacturer and distributor of gears in the USA for both the early and later units. They also carry gears for other Volvos and other car makes. The early cable-driven (mechanical) gears are found at http://www.odometergears.com/cable.html. The later electronic gears are at http://www.odometergears.com/volvo.html.
cleanflametrap.com/speedo: Diagnostic notes for later 240 electric speedometers. Also: cleanflametrap.com/speedo5/

Section 1: Odometer Repair Instructions, 1981-1985 240 cable-driven.
(NOT for 1986 and later electronic units)

For this set of instructions below, I will not go into detail on removing the 240 instrument cluster from the dash. For detailed instructions on that, please refer to my 240 custom gauge face installation instructions at http://www.davebarton.com/pdf/240WhiteFaceInstall81-93.pdf.
And to avoid repeating this info too many times, there will be a few more instances in these instructions where I will refer you to the gauge face instructions.

Here's the back of your typical '81-'85 240 instrument cluster.

Locate and remove the 7 Phillips head screws around the outer edge (noted by the white arrows).

Also remove the two slotted screws on the back of speedometer (noted by two red arrows).

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE

Lift out the circuit board. Here's what you now have before you.
The speedometer remains in the box.
Remove it and have a look if you've never seen it up close before. Take a couple pics and impress your friends.

If your cluster has a tach, you'll see this little item.
Don't lose it. It often falls out if you turn the box over. How about you just don't tip it over?

On the 1981-85 240, the speedo needle needs to be removed. This is a delicate operation.
You should again refer to my 240 gauge face installation instructions for this and use the needle removal techniques I suggest there. Needle removal an 1981-85 240 is very different from a 1986-93 240. So if you have a newer 240, STOP what you're doing, take a few breaths, and click HERE.

If you're still here... then let's continue.
If you break a speedo needle, I have replacements in my Used Parts Page here. It's rare to break one, but it does happen once in a while.
However, if you follow my instructions carefully, you probably will not break anything.

Once the needle is off, remove the metal speedometer faceplate using a small flat screwdriver to remove the 2 tiny screws.
Be careful if they're tight. They are soft metal and are easy to gouge. Get a screwdriver that fits these small slots well.

<<< Here's the naked speedometer after removing the faceplate.
See those three slotted screws? If you enlarge the pic you can. Remove them. They hold the two halves of the speedo together.
Once the screws are removed, be gentle when pulling in apart. The parts inside are delicate, but it won't explode... trust me.
You'll see one piece that can fall out at this point, but not to worry, just put it back like the picture.

Here's the back half of the speedo.
The thing with the arrow is what I was talking about. Just be sure to put it back before you reassemble.

Here's the front half of the speedo, viewed from the back.

See these two gears (one is blue and one is black)? To avoid confusion, I'll call these them "outside gears" since they're on the outside of the odometer assembly. The blue plastic gear is often the culprit for a failed odometer in a cable-driven speedo, but not always as I discovered.

You'll notice in this photo the odometer reset button is missing from the bottom of the speedo. I removed it so it wouldn't get in my way. It pops off quite easily. They also tend to break after years of getting pushed and pushed. If you need one, I have replacements in my Used Parts Page here.

Here's a closer look at the blue gear. Your gear may be a different color... I haven't seen that many yet. If anyone knows the colors, please email me.
FYI, this is the same gear referenced in Dave's Shannon's page (the gear he found was white instead of blue, so it might have had a different number of teeth). This gear (as found by Dave Shannon) has a tendancy to crack. It might also lose teeth after years of use. There is a long metal shaft going through this and these outside gears. In order for the odometer to function correctly, these gears need to grip the shaft... so slipping allowed. Dave Shannon's gear was cracked and that was causing it to slip in the slaft.

I found nothing obviously wrong with either of these outside gears. No cracks and no missing teeth. And they appeared to be gripping the shaft from what I could see. This was a mystery, since the odometer clearly was not working. So I gave up. It's not my fault Volvo owners give up so easily.

NO! Volvo owners are NOT quitters! (you didn't fall for that, right?) Instead, I found a way to test the odometer to see where my problem was.
As I mentioned, that blue gear could be cracked, missing teeth or just plain slipping on the shaft, although I could find no problem at this point.
I needed to see for certain if that gear was gripping or slipping on the shaft. To test this, pick up the assembly and grip the wide black inside gear (like I am in the photo) and hold it so it can't turn. Now see if you can turn the two outside gears on the end of the shaft. Don't force them.... be gentle. You should NOT be able to turn the two outside gears without the wide black inside gear turning also. If you can spin the outer gears without the inside gear turning, you know something is slipping somewhere. It's important to find out exactly what is slipping before you pull anything apart.

If you find one of the plastic outside gears is slipping, your best solution is to replace it. If these gears seem tight on the shaft as they should be, or if you're still not sure what's wrong, them keep reading....

See this brass collar? It's pressed onto the shaft (opposite end from the outside gears). This shaft goes through the odometer number wheels and through the two outside gears on the other side. When you try to spin the outside gears (while holding the wide black inside gear steady), have a look at this collar to see if the shaft is spinning along with them.

If the shaft is NOT spinning, then one or both outside gears are loose. As mentioned in Dave's Shannon's Page, he found a cracked plastic outside gear. Replacement gears weren't available then, so his repair method was to expoxy or JB Weld the gear back together and to use some 220 grit sandpaper to roughen the shaft for a better grip. This gear may now be available from the 240 Odometer Repair page listed above or specifically this link: http://www.odometergears.com/cable.html.

If the shaft IS spinning and it still appears the outside gears are gripping the shaft, then something else is slipping. I will cover this a little further below, so don't be a cheater and skip ahead.

REMOVING THE OUTSIDE GEARS: If you need to remove the outside gears, gently pry them with a small flat screwdriver (see photo). I don't know yet if it matters, but for now pay close attention to which direction they face, so you can put them back on the same way.

For those of you who don't read directions very well, here's a close up of these gears. NOTE: The tops of these gears were facing away from the speedo body. Maybe that will help those of you who weren't paying attention to the positions of your outside gears (assuming it really matters).

The blue gear in this photo is a 14 tooth unit and may be typical of a 1984 era 240's. I have seen this exact same gear in a 1981 also. The following location appears to sell these gears in a variety of tooth counts: http://www.odometergears.com/cable.html. You will need to get the same tooth count to match what you have.

If you found that one or both of your outside gears were spinning on the shaft, try roughing up the shaft with some sandpaper. It's also possible to use a small punch or screwdriver to tap small dents around the gear center hole. This might help close up the hole slightly. Be careful, since beating on your gear may destroy it. With it being so old, it might be brittle. You will have to decide on the risk. Remember? You're a decisive 240 owner.

HERE'S WHAT I FOUND THAT WAS DIFFERENT WITH MY ODOMETER FAILURE:
When I tested my outside gears to see if they were gripping or spinning on the shaft, I found they were gripping quite well, but they were spinning the shaft when I turned them while holding the wide black inside gear steady. As it turned out, my outside gears were just fine. What I discovered was that the GRAY METAL GEAR you see in this photo was slipping on the shaft. It's an inside gear. It's supposed to GRIP the shaft.

Removing this metal gear is tricky.

See the shaft going through the gear? Remember how it goes through all the odometer number wheels too? If you remove this shaft, the odometer will explode and a lot of little parts will fall out and bounce everywhere. Not good.

I found a way. The shaft needs to be pulled out just enough to release this metal gear. The last thing I wanted to see was all those little number wheels falling out, or even moving in the slightes amount. So I applied a piece of packing tape across the wheels (see photo) to keep them snugly together. No moving equals much, much better.

<<< Then I used a felt marker and marked both the gray metal gear and the white plastic one next to it. I wanted the gray metal gear to go back in the exact same position, in case it made a difference.

First, go back up a few steps and remove the outside gears.
To slide the shaft out, use a small screwdriver to pry under this brass collar. The collar and shaft are pressed together. The shaft should begin coming out along with the collar.

DO NOT pry the shaft out too far.
Pry the shaft out just enough so the gray gear is free. Then carefully lift the gray gear out. Try not to disturb the odometer number wheels.

<<< Here's the metal gear. It's made of some sort of cheap pot-metal. If you look closely, the hole in the center has some very faint splines. These wore down on my gear, so it was slipping on the shaft.

My solution to tighten up this gear on the shaft was to use a pointed tool (a punch or small screwdriver works) and give the area around the hole a few taps to slightly deform/expand the metal and tighten the grip on the shaft.

Three taps on mine worked wonderfully. The gear went back on and was nice and tight.

After you re-insert the gray metal gear, push the shaft back through and test the odometer function again before installing the outside gears. Pay attention to the alignment of the top odometer numbers. The first time I re-installed the gray metal gear, I found the far right number wheel was no longer aligned (see photo). This means I allowed that number wheel to slip or the gray metal gear was installed slightly off the mark.

I pulled it back out and got it right the second time. Now I have a perfect odometer again.

Total time, including pulling the cluster out of the car and re-installing, was around an hour.
Why don't you fix yours now?

Section 2: Odometer Repair, 1986-1993 240 (NOT for 1985 and older units)

For this set of instructions, I will not go into detail on removing the 240 instrument cluster from the dash. For detailed instructions on this, please refer to my 240 white face gauge installation instructions at http://www.davebarton.com/pdf/240WhiteFaceInstall81-93.pdf.
And to avoid repeating this info too many times, there will be a few more instances in these instructions where I will refer you to the white face instructions.

Locate and remove the 7 Phillips head screws around the outer edge of the gauge box. Ignore the red arrows in this photo.

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE.

<<< Here's the back of the electronic speedometer in your cluster.

Remove the 4 Slotted Screws noted by the red arrows. Lift the gauge and circuit board assembly out of the box and the speedo will easily separate from the rest of the assembly.

If your cluster has a tach, you'll see this little item.
Don't lose it. It will fall out if you turn the box over. How about you just don't tip it over?

<<< Here's the speedo after separating it from everything else. Exciting, huh?
Turn it over and you'll see this thingy below....

<<<There's a small electric motor in there. Behind that is the small plastic gear that breaks so often in '86-'93 240's.
You will be removing the two Phillip's screws. But before you do that, you have a decision. Most 240 owners are already decisive. Let's see if YOU are.
The metal faceplate on the front of the speedo gets in the way of this operation. It can be done WITHOUT removing the metal faceplate, but it will be a bit harder to work in there behind that motor and circuit board.

<<< Have a look here. Not a lot of room, but it can be done.
Decision time now.

REMOVING THE FACEPLATE: If you have decided to remove the faceplate first, this step will tell you what to do.
Grip the center of the speedo needle and turn it counter-clockwise (toward the "MPH"). The needle stops are zero and you will feel that stopping point, but you will be forcing it past zero. Be careful not to put pressure on the long orange needle. It's plastic and will snap off.
After you feel it break past zero, it will get easier to turn. Continue turning it counter-clockwise, while at the same time pulling it toward you. It'll come off in your hand without any fuss.

Then, using a small slotted screwdriver (it's important to use one that fits in the slots well), unscrew the two small faceplate screws. These screws are a soft metal and will gouge easily and distort if you use the wrong tool.

Remove the faceplate.

Remember those two Phillip's screws a couple steps back? Remove them if you haven't yet.
After the two Phillip's screws are removed, pull back the circuit board assembly. These photos show how it will look if the needle and faceplate are removed first.
With these first two photos, I'm showing you two different possibilities, which you will see when you open this part of the speedo up. That gear contraption part might come out with the motor or it might not... doesn't matter. Either's fine.

That little white gear is the target of all this effort. If you look closely, this one has a tooth missing. So now we know why this odometer failed.

<<< Pull this whole gear contraption assembly thing out. Now you will be simply exchanging that bad little gear for a crisp new one.
RECOMMENDATION: A very slight bit of Vaseline or similar clean grease should be put on the shaft the gear rests on.
CAUTION: There are some new replacement gears being sold out there that are fitting way too tight on the little shaft. This gear needs to be very free to turn without any restriction. If you get one that fits tight, you will need to drill out the hole.

A word of advice: Look hard for small broken pieces. I received an email from one later model 240 owner who replaced a broken gear and couldn't get things to move more than 1/10 click after several reassemblies. He finally discovered that a piece of the broken gear was lodged in the works. Here's how things went:

"It was maddening. I agree, however, 7 times is simply a testament to my stubbornness, or so my wife would say! By the third evolution I could remove the instrument cluster in about 60 seconds and I had the rear wheel jacked up to facilitate test “drives”!

The giveaway was the trip 1/10 numbers would move a bit, then the upper main odometer would look like it was trying to turn, the numbers would move slightly, then it would all stop. It was behaving like a jam was somewhere in there. Your description of not giving up on your mechanical odometer gear troubleshoot was inspirational, I went back and re-read it after the fifth removal.

The broken gear piece was miniscule and the only way I found it was by rotating the gear mechanism with my finger while I had the gear case cracked open. I kept getting to one spot that had noticeable resistance but could see nothing. I ran the tip of a tweezers in between the gear teeth and on one pass a small piece of plastic came out, and that was it." S.D., Wake, VA

Now you may reassemble everything. Total time for this operation can easily be under an hour.